GoPro, the action camera maker, has refreshed its entire range, including the addition of the 4k-capable Hero 3 Black Edition. The existing Hero HD and Hero 2 models have essentially been re-housed in smaller cases with updated user interfaces and will sit alongside the Black Edition as the White and Silver Editions, respectively. The Hero 3 Black Edition can shoot at up to 3840x2160 pixels at 15 frames per second. It also has 2.7k mode (2716 horizontal pixels) at 30 or 24fps, and a Protune mode that offers higher bit-rates and a neutral color profile better suited to post-processing.

The Hero 3 Silver edition, essentially a Hero 2 in the latest smaller body, also gains Protune mode for its HD output - a feature added via firmware to existing Hero 2 models. The latest models also gain Wi-Fi control to allow remote control via the recently-announced App, while the Black Edition includes a waterproof Wi-Fi controller.

The Hero 3 models have a redesigned lens, which GoPro describes as 'ultra-wide' with 'reduced distortion,' though no details of angle-of-view or whether this distorition is optically or digitally corrected are given. The smaller Hero 3 bodies house a fractionally smaller battery than previous models and use MicroSD, rather than full-size SD cards. There is also a redesigned waterproof housing with a flat lens for the new models.

The new cameras will be available in November, with the Black Edition costing around $399.

I want to try to use the GoPro H3 Black for Aerial photography/photogrammetry.I know that there were some issues with distortions because of the wide angle mode. The rolling shutter also complicates things when moving at higher speeds.

My question: is it possible to minimise the rolling shutter problem by using a fast shutter speed (stills obviously) in the Black?

I am new to GoPro, but I need something wide angle video for school, so I ended up buying the GoPro H3 Black Edition. I just need it for Gym settings.

My question is:

I understand that 1080p is good enough, but I don't understand if I should use 60, 48, 30, or 24..I just don't get the numbers. I am a little disoriented on which is which..which one for slow motion, which I don't want & definitely want to avoid that.

Short answer:Try 30 first. If you want more cinematic then try 24, if you want smoother motion try 60. I wouldn't use 48 if you're not planning to slow-mo.

Long answer:Those are the frame rates (frames per second), which is essentially about how much motion information is captured. Which one you want depends on the look you want. 24 is what most movies are shot in so it'll give you a more cinematic look than the others. It might not be the best for fast motion though. 30, 48 & 60 will each give you smoother, more "video-like" motion because they all capture more motion information. If you've seen The Hobbit in HFR (high frame rate) you've seen 48fps.

None of these frame rates are slow-mo pre se, it's just that the higher numbers capture more information so they can be used to create slow motion by playing back at a different frame rate.

As to what you should shoot in - I'd do some tests to see what you like. Shoot the same scene at each frame rate and then compare.

I received a GoPro Hero3 Black Edition for Christmas, it had been on my wish list since I first started seeing the dozens of misleading YouTube videos that showed professional grade, high quality ACTION movies of people in high-risk sports. First problem: NO CHARGING BASE (must use USB to computer to charge). This is garbage. Do an online search for GoPro charging problems and tell me how many people your company has disappointed. All of the reviews point to FAIL. "Do Not Charge Your GoPro On Any Computer." is the consensus, even though the manuel tells you to. Second problem: NO INSTRUCTION MANUEL. This is garbage. Why do I have to go to a computer to read the horribly unorganized manuel that was put together by a third-world country? Oh, I know the answer- $$! Third problem: 1980's black and green watch face technology. Who can read the menus and submenus on that little display? THIS TOO, is GARBAGE! Fourth problem: just google it. This camera sucks

Most people prefer PDF manuals. They are easy to access, you can search them for specific text, they link to other sections for you, and if you must hold paper to be able to read, then you can print it yourself. That way all the people who don't want a hard copy don't have to pay more $$$ for the camera for the few who do want it. Why waste paper and money? I copy all my manuals to my tablet so that I can access them even during a power failure or if I am on location and don't have access to the internet. Try carrying around all your paper manuals.

As for charging it, I charge my GoPros by plugging them into the wall. It charges the exact same as the iPhone and iPad that we plug into the wall. I usually charge one battery while using another one. However, if you connect your camera to the USB port for transferring files or upgrading the camera, it will charge while you are connected as a bonus. Since to use a GoPro you must use a computer, no extra gear is needed to charge it

Yes, there are impressive videos online. The GoPro site has many. They are shot with the exact same camera. However, the camera needs to be configured and used properly to get professional results. Two photographers shooting a wedding with the exact same camera will get different results. You don't blame the camera because one of the photographers has poor results.

I think this comment is the competition trashtalking. This post is very very similar (even same spelling mistakes) as this one - http://www.techradar.com/reviews/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/gopro-hero3-black-edition-1105704/review/2#articleContent

Seems to fishy for me unless you like to personaly go on many sites to vent your frustration.

Very good camera - but God help you if you live in Europe and it goes wrong. My Hero 2 crashed after a firmware update. It had to be returned to California, at my cost, for assessment and replacement. This took eight weeks - and at the time of writing it has still not been replaced. That's because Go Pro mislabelled it on the Customs form and the courier tried to hit me for a 20% VAT charge. Regardless of that, eight weeks plus is a ridiculous amount of time for a defective item to be replaced. Go Pro have no warranty support in Europe - everything is routed through California and everything is painfully slow. I paid for the camera in good faith and now have been deprived of its use for 8 straight weeks and counting. Disgraceful – you have been warned.

Wondering if anyone can help me decide which GoPro model to get my boyfriend for Christmas. He has not owned one before and will be using it mainly for motocycling, mountain biking and snowboarding. The question is: should i go for the Hero 3 Black edition, or, the Hero 2 Silver+£100 to spend on accessories of his choice? Seems to me the main advantages of the black are more mp & fps (but will he even notice this if he's not using it professionally) and a free wifi remote. If i go for the silver plus money for accessories then he can buy this himself if it's important to him. Apologies for the clueless post, any help will be appreciated.

Let me start by saying I signed up here just to answer your question and it was a pain in the rear. DP should hand out free prizes for those that make it through the sign up process. HOLY MOTHER of CURSE WORDS... Ok I feel better.

I bought the silver first then upgraded to black when it came out. There is a noticeable difference and I am not the type to always see differences in things like others. I am no expert on this and am really just getting into it myself. Have been into still photography. BUT I think the higher FPS the black offers will be very helpful for the sports he is into because he can get some great slow motion. I use mine on my car racing through canyons and also love the fact that the black will take still shots while it does video. I think for the extra 100 it is worth it. I don't really use the remote but I do love the app although I can't use it on the black yet, it is very helpful. I tend to buy more than I need just in case. I think he will be happy either way.

I got a week ago my Hero 3 black edition. it is probably the best camera when it comes to video quality if you have good light. Once it`s getting darker my 2 years old £70 Silvercrest camcorder gives class to Hero 3. You would really expect better low light performance from a £370 camera which they advert as : delivering 2X better low light performance. If that extremely noisy image is 2X better low light performance, how were the previous models?

You say that the recorded material easily can be up scaled to 4:2:2, but what is the native format straight from HDMI, assuming that you can get a live signal from HDMI (and not only recorded footage)? Some cams record in 4:2:2 or 4:2:0, but gives out better format from their HDMI port, such as Sony NXCAM (giving 8-bit 4:4:4), because of the ports connection straight to the sensor.

I have two questions for anyone that has experience with the black edition. First, has the streaming lag been improved? A 3-sec delay doesn't do much good when controlling automated devices, particularly at high speeds. Secondly, has anyone tested the streaming range underwater? I know the website says 600', but I'm wondering how deep one can go while still streaming topside. Thanks for the info.

If you are talking about streaming to the app, we don't know yet as it wont be available until 12/14 but I hear the delay is a wifi thing not a camera thing. I believe the streaming was designed to set the camera up not to really use it in real time.

You can't take 2.7K rez video w. a 5MP camera, let alone 4K rez video. You need, at an absolute minimum, 8.8MP active area on the sensor for 4K video capture, and the Hero3 Black Edition has 11MP, so it just barely covers it.

If all you need is regular 1080p type Full-HD video, a 5MP imager is fine.

Thank you for the help! Could I ask for some more information? Will the video resolution be less on a 5MP sensor than the 11MP? I guess my root question is what is the difference between the sensor sizes from the video perspective? Please feel free to post links so I can learn on my own. I tried a few searches but don't really know what to search for without typing long sentences.. which search engines don't like too much.

haha wow this douche still didn't answer your question. (referring to the difference between 5MP and 11MP)The white has 5, and the silver has 11, but they both have the same fps on resolution...so no, the video resolution won't change....just the pixels on the pictures. yes, there is a HUGE difference on fps between the white and silver versus the black, but that's not what you asked lol.

olive- FPS is different than resolution. PLEASE go get a book or something before you spout incorrect info. Having the same FPS settings really doesn't dictate video quality, only the speed at which frames are captured.

Also I wonder about the real horizontal FOV for each mode. "Ultra wide" means nothing to me and nor does "normal" or "Narrow"

Can anyone help me out with how all this works. The way I see it is that the camera has a fixed lens and a 4K sensor. Therefore At 4k you can only get the "Ultra wide" FOV while at 1080p you can choose to have narrower FOV's because the processor simply picks the 1080p sized area on the 4K sensor depending on the FOV selected. Full "Ultra wide" at 1080p would mean the processor is taking every second pixel on every second row to form the 1080p image etc.

That would explain the weird 2.7k video option. I want these cameras to run at 2.7k with a HFOV of 90 degrees. I suppose that means a replacement lens.

I wonder if the older aftermarket lenses for the Hero fit on this camera.

Any real technical information on the Hero 3 would be greatly appreciated.

Can anybody explain how is it possible to record at 45 Mb/s while the fastest MicroSD cards are 30 Mb/s at maximum? Well, there is SanDisk Extreme Pro 8 & 16 Gb, but GoPro site sells 30Mb/s cards.Does it mean, to shoot in ProTune I need more than 45 Mb/s card?

You maybe talking about 95MB/sec capability with the SanDisk MicroSD cards, which would come to about 760Mb/second. And that should plenty good cover the 45Mb/sec recording codec's data flow requirements, since 760Mb/sec is way north of what you would really need w. the Hero3 Black Edition using the highest resolution and quality: 45Mb/second.

http://www.sandisk.com/products/memory-cards/microsd/

And even the SanDisk Ultra edition cards provide 30Mb/sec = 240Mbit/sec, once again plenty fast when your recording bitrate in the camera is only 45Mbit/sec.

I may be dumb but I don't understand how you arrive at your transfer speed numbers in the above. I have queried GoPro regarding the same as the post above yours (Can anybody explain how is it possible to record at 45 Mb/s while the fastest MicroSD cards are 30 Mb/s at maximum? ). Two e-mails but no reply from GoPro. I have bought a Hero3 Black Edition on pre-order but the UK suppliers can only offer 30 Mb/sec class 10 micro SD cards. I think this is the published read not write rate. They don't have an answer whether these "slower" write speed cards will affect the Hero3 if it is clocking at 45 mb/sec or at it's upper levels. I want to basically know if the potential picture quality will suffer as a consequence of a 30 mb/sec card? If you can throw some light on this I would be grateful.Cheers.

Hi Pablo, the confusion here is that the codec outputs are rated in Mb/s whereas the SD card read/write speeds are in MB/S.The subtle difference is that Mb/S is megabits per second, whereas MB/S is megabytes per second. One byte is eight bits, so your 30MB/S SD card is actually 30*8 Mb/S, which is 240 Mb/S.This difference in metrics causes a lot of confusion in the consumer electronics space.

Thanks for that. I expect it is an easily made misconception by novices. My supplier didn't spot it though when I queried them. I have passed your explanation on to them. I guess GoPro wouldn't design a camera that surpassed the ability of the available memory media to store data. I am looking forward to using the camera when it arrives.

Let us try it yet again.... 95MB/sec capability with the fastest SanDisk MicroSD cards comes to about 760Mb/second. And that should plenty good cover the 45Mb/sec recording codec's data flow requirements, since 760Mb/sec is a HIGHER NUMBER than 45Mb/sec is, understand?

And even the SanDisk Ultra edition cards provide 30Mb/sec = 240Mbit/sec, once again plenty fast when your recording bitrate in the camera is only 45Mbit/sec. Kapish?

Since the Gopro has a fixed lens on it, I presume that the various FOV settings are achieved by sampling different sized area's on the sensor.

So it makes sense that at max resolution only the 170 degree FOV is available. However, I would have expected a medium FOV for 2k7 resolution but I suppose other limitations play a role.

Buy why would it not be possible to use an aftermarket lens to get a narrower FOV in 2k7 mode?

Maybe you have other ideas. Basically I need to produce 4k video with a FOV of 90 degrees for a video wall. Using the 1080p resolution gives me the only correct FOV but I would have to scale up the video by 177%.

Finally, does anyone know the actual physical dimensions of the hero3? It is so annoying to see technical specifications dumbed down so much. 30% smaller is meaningless. I want exact dimensions.

Pablo UK in reply to " I want to basically know if the potential picture quality will suffer as a consequence of a 30 mb/sec card"

Assuming that GoPro's work the same as my 7D, there is a small amount of internal memory that acts as a buffer between memory card and the sensor. When the card is slow to write the data is stored in the buffer, but if that gets filled (if the card has a prolonged slow writing period) the camera just stops recording!! Not good if you only have one take.one my CF cards on my 7D this has happened a few times with my "Kingston elite pro 133x" but never on my "Scandisk extreme 60MB/s"

So if you cant afford a second take buy the faster (and more expensive) memory cards.

I'm was considering buying a Gopro HD Hero 2, for taking underwater photographs and also for use while surfing. I was put off by numerous reports about poor focusing underwater due to fisheye lens/housing and the obvious distortion around the edges. Does the new version HD Hero3 get around these problems with the new flat cover? Also, is the obvious fisheye distortion in normal pictures reduced on the '3.' Thanks for any helpful answers.

Right U R, ottovds. Protune recording bitrate in cinema modes 4K and 2.7K using the GoPro Hero3 Black Edition is a whopping 45Mbit/second. Considering that an $8,000 Sony NEX-FS700 records 24p video at a maximum bitrate of only 24Mbit, or that even a $16,000 Canon EOS C300 records 24p video only at a maximum bitrate of 50Mbit/second, this 45Mbit/sec capability in the US$399 Hero3 Black Edition POC camera is nothing short of amazing.

"Pathetic bitrates" are what the Canon DSLRs use probably -- they are so bad, Canon steadfastly refuses to reveal what they actually are, you know. Just try calling them and asking them outright, see how they respond.

Re. "excessively high-resolution chips" -- well, to shoot 4K video you need an active recording area of 8.8MP, so the absolute minimum pixel count you want on your sensor is probably 10MP. The Hero3 does not have much more than that, so what were your points again here, Francis?

I have found many of the comments very interesting and informative and a great way to learn. I do agree that the Gopro cameras have some pretty serious limitations. But, that being said, they are also very versatile, and if one is creative, they can be used for more than just the POV high action sports that they have become famous for.

I recently finished a short film that is an experimental environmental doc, which I shot entirely with the Gopro hero 2. Half of the film was shot underwater, and I used the flat port UW housing. I used this camera because it fitted my low budget, and I knew it would do the job, with a bit of imaginative use.

If you are interested to see the results, go either to Vimeo or YouTube, and type into their respective search bars: "This Living Earth at Gospel Rock", or use the URL: http:/vimeo.com/50431047

It can be seen in full HD, with music. Please be patient, as this is not an action film, but a meditation on beauty in the natural world. Enjoy.

Please take it off of Vimeo, it was all chopped-up there and extremely compressed. I have no idea why anyone bothers with Vimeo any more, I mean compared to You Tube, stuff parked on Vimeo is a bear to watch. I have up on them over a year ago, it's just not worth the struggle.

I really loved your haunting piece w. the mesmerizing music. You shot this with Hero2, imagine how same footage would look if shot in 4K or 2.7K and then down-rezzed to Full-HD.

Only distraction is whenever the horizon is not right in the middle of the frame, there is that spherical distortion. You can maybe "de-fisheye" GoPro 170-degree fisheye video clips using Adobe PS/AE or similar photo/video manipulation programs?

Finally, did you use a crane, slider, pole? How did you frame your shots, did you have the LCD BacPac attached?

Yes, I often used the LCD back for framing, and I also used a wifi back too, which was very useful.

Actually, for the curved horizon, it did work nicely to symbolize the "whole earth" effect which a lot of viewers picked up on.

I shot a lot of the stuff using a hand held, counter-balanced bamboo pole of about 7 metres, or 22 ft in length, with the camera on the end, on a stabilizer, and other shots using a cable-cam set up. Having a very small light camera really helped. About Vimeo being choppy, if you wait for it to load, ahead of the play bar, I have found it plays very smoothly, from my experience.

I just watched your video.It is very well done and very enjoyable.Thank you for sharing with us. :-)I'm on the verge of getting a GoPro3 Black to do some non-sports videos of my own.What editing software do you favor?Did you select your own music and what royalties did you have to deal with?

Follow the path that Google Glass is taking. Hero and other POV cams are just sideshows.

We know that 24/7 continuous, networked recordability of the individual life is the omega of photography and cinematography -- taking stills or videos of what we see, wherever we are, the moment we see it, stored and/or streamed to the network. The aim of cameras and sound has always been to live through each other's perceptions -- networking our eyes and ears.

Two hurdles to jump: merging the recording and networking device with the eye; imaging with the same quality as the eye or better. This is the future. Resistance is futile.

I do aerial photography using used 7 mp Nikon 7900s and get good quality images in wide range of lighting moving at 5-25 mph at 100-700 feet alt. I go through 2-4 cameras a year. A Pentax W30 is almost indistructable and great in rain or water landing but only produces equal quality to Nikon in perfect light conditions. I shoot in sports mode, continuous, infinite focus, wide angle all auto settings to get fastest shutter. No feed back, I shoot blind, but get the shot.Question: You are far more versed on camera tech than I do you suggest I upgrade in the GoPro or Nikon/Luminex etc. direction. Getting the cameras wired for remote activation is a consideration.

This is all wrong.It's not a question of taxes and it's not a governement problem...Adobe creative suite web : in Europe 2550€ with taxes.In USA, 2000$ with taxes...And no ! Everything doesn't cost so much in europe, only imported US products !!

Sorry, Couscousdelight, you seem to be on the wrong hree. There are NO TAXES in the USA for these things, Friend. For instance, in my state we have no Value Added Tax, no sales tax, no tax whatsoever on any of these products, see?

Now, in Europe you will have all sorts of taxes and tariffs, such as EU import duties, excise taxes, penalties if the thing is a camcorder instead of a still photo camera, and so on. And the EU importers and distributors gotta make a few €s on the deal too, remember. Talk to your assorted governments, contact Brussels and Strasbourg, and maybe, just maybe, you can drive the prices down on these Asian products.

"Everything doesn't cost so much in europe, only imported US products !!"

Right, USA products, which are these days made someplace in Asia, anyhow. But hey, if Japanese made camera gear is indeed cheaper in Europe, maybe we should stock up over there?

This doesnt have anything to do with taxes and with the European Government. Its a FACT that GOPRO itself raised the Prices of the GoPro 3 for almost 50%. The even admit it.I am a reseller! and stop talking about the European are as if you knew something about it.If i Import it from a US reseller it wil cost me much less than the Official way. taxes or not.. GoPro has grown up to a big in business company and now they forgot aboput what counts.

How did GoPro "raised" the price of the GoPro Hero3 in Europe -- when it is not even out in the United States? Maybe they have different prices in different markets, it's a rather large planet, after all. No American company can afford to sell their products for the same exact price (denominated in USD or €) in Europe than what they can sell it for in the USA. It's just not happening. Cost of doing business in the EU is probably the highest in the world, and in the U.K. it is higher still than on the Continent.

Re. the so-called "Europeans" complaining about most things from morning 'till night, well I still have a valid EU passport, but fortunately I do not have to live there. Couldn't afford to even if I had wanted to, probably.

Well t the Prices of the Gopro2 Was the same here as in the US.. so they CAN do the Price.. its official that they raised the Price by 50% for Europe. They saw how much money they can make here.they have restrictions for online shops for the Black edition... only those who set up the GoPro Stand in their shop are allowed to actually sell the Black edition.. i dont know what your problem ist with the EU but Americaans arent doing any better over there.. people here are complaining cuz everything gets more expensive and we dont have jobs in many countries.. taxes are being rased.. and we dont earn more money than you do over there.. so basically we have the same thing that u do over there.. Watch some News Dude.. America is not the only county on this planet.while some verry intelligent people vote for a rich guy who only cares about the rich we cant belive how dumb so many people are over there.Obama for Pres ;)

I love these poor Europeans, Man, they always complain about America and the rest of the world out to get them, no wonder then that even the Australian Prime Minister is now labeling Europe a decaying, has-been power to be turned away from.

Meanwhile, I just bought my Hero3 Black Edition at Best Buy, it was USD $399, but I they had a $50 off promotion, so out the door it cost me USD $349 for the package. Not complaining about it, like the Europeans do, either.

15fps played back at 30fps would indeed be "pretty pathetic slow-mo" because it would, in fact, be speeded up.

GoPros are useless in low light and have all the problems of a programmed exposure in bright light because you don't have any control over the shutter speed. No control, as a consequence, over motion blur.

You can't lock exposure either (which would be one way to reduce noise in low light, preventing the camera from automatically "gaining up" when it's pointed at something dark).

The ProTune firmware update helps improve the image in good light but does nothing to improve low light response.

Anyway, at least we know why the ProTune update was so overdue: they were busy making the Hero2 obsolete...

Would someone on a ski slope or a surf board want to worry about adjusting the shutter speed or aperture while dodging moguls, rocks, cliffs, or Great Whites? Do you suppose that a manual setting for the "head down" angle would be applicable when the head turns upward or to right or left?

Auto exposure is logical, as you really won't want to fiddle with settings when you're doing a double backflip.But than, manaual exposure is still useful, I've seen a fan use a GoPro on the SIDELINES! I LOLed, I thought GoPro should be used in the action not out of it....

They didn't make it obsolete, the GoPro Hero 2 lives on as the GoPro Hero 3 Silver which is probably going to be one of the main sellers for a while yet. I am curious to see how well the Hero 3 Black sensor works in low light.

You're missing the whole point of a Gopro. Of course it has shortcomings that larger and more complex cameras don't have. It is all about where you can put this camera, not how sophisticated it is. I think thir biggest mistake will be to over engineer it. The good news is, it is getting smaller, not bigger.

Anyhow, 16fps is the standard frame rate for 8mm films (Super 8 standard frame rate is 18fps). So, 15fps is not that far from 16fps film rate for narrow-gauge. Anyhow, you can also shoot in 2.7K at 24, 25, 30fps with the 4K Hero3 from GoPro.

Wondering about the prospects of the Blackmagic camera now due out sometime next year. That can only record at a maximum of 2.5K.

@ tarkovsky: Blackmagic's attempt at something new with a camera is now pretty much passe, you mean? They promised the camera by mid June, this is what we were told at NAB earlier this year. Now, it looks like maybe 1st half of next year. They could have waited until NAB 2012 w. the announcement, really.

2.5K video is okay for > than HD resolution, but of course not as good & flexible as GoPro Hero3 with its 2.7K / 4K option.

Lastly, not onty does the BCC not come with any lens -- there are no properly matching lenses for it, period. It has a totally odd-sized sensor with no matching image circle lenses made by anyone for it, see? Whereas the GoPro Hero3 already comes with a lens, so you don't have to scratch your head what to put on it.

I know own a HERO3 Black Edition. I'm shooting 2.7kcin @24 (normal action) and 4Kcin 12fps (for timelapse.) 12fps is a good number for timelapse, when you intend to blend frame together to similate a longer shutter interval. In JPG you get a sustained 2fps, too slow for human motion with frame blending.

Congrats, Dan. I was lucky to get mine for just $349 out the door. I will be only using mine for video, but what is this frame-blending technique you are talking of in 12fps mode? Sounds pretty interesting and useful. I am trying to figure out where to get extra lenses for it, in case you know.

Felix Baumgartner might offer to jump off the Space Needle, if GoPro and RedBull pony up enough cash. But perhaps you might volunteer to do a skate board or leaping act!DPR could simply fasten all the competing POV cameras to some bike handlebards and test which one generates the most vertigo and fear when played back.

Most likely the naysayers here are not doing to much to warrant any GoPro at all.Gotta be out there doing stuff that provides image IMPACT! to make any piece of kit worthwhile. No upgrade is going to help the inactive. Just check out mymodernmet.com

@pj ... have you looked at the amazing GoPro skiing and mountain biking videos!? Have you not seen their TV ads on a big screen! We use them in TV shows all of the time ... you probably haven't even noticed. :-)

I can't seem to reproduce that quality with skiing, and I found the still photos very disappointing. Maybe it was more of a problem with my filming skills than with the camera, but I actually got better footage of my kids skiing with my iPhone (albeit, I had to hold the iPhone in my hand) than with my GoPro. I was also planning on using my GoPro as an underwater camera, but didn't hold on to it until summer to test that out, but I am very happy with my tg1 underwater shots.

GoPro has been used in limited way for advertisement work as a camera for special POV, like out of fridge or out of sink etc... and it can usually pass when you do a quick cut and have good light. But the main reason to have gopro is sports, it is a helmet cam that you can do a little bit more with but not that much.

I had a Hero 2 and sold it on EBay because the image quality in low light was so poor for skiing and mountainbiking. . I replaced it with an Olympus TG-1, which has amazing low light quality (f2.0). I plan on cutting holes in the hard case for the lens and buttons, then adapting it to a GoPro shoulder harness for skiing. We 'll see how it goes. The 25 mm lens on my tg1 isn't truly wide angle which could be a challenge.

Yeah, man, tell me about it. I sold my iPhone because the camera is sooooooooooo crap I replace it with 5D mk3 which has a lot better controls and auto focus especially the sharpness with 135mm f/2 L it really kick ass

Re. Olympus TG-1 iHS.... It has the same 1/2.3-inch sized sensor than the GoPro has, except it has more photosites on it, which would reduce low-light performance on the Olympus. The F2.0 lens is actually an F4.9 lens as soon as you zoom in a bit, so once again, the GoPro lens is brighter. Olympus can only do 1080p and not 2.7K and 4K video, like what the GoPro Hero3 can deliver.

Re. recording bitrate, GoPro Hero3 with Protune records at 45Mbit/second for very high quality. You would be lucky if the Oly can record HD at 17Mbit by comparison. Lastly, you can use an external microphone or XLR audio adapter with the GoPro because it has a 3.5mm stereo mic jack for 2-channel audio input. No can't do with the Olympus TH-1 iHS.

Haha ... be a wall flower while we are making great images NOW ... the most popular HD camera in the film biz right now is the 2K Arri Alexa ... almost all TV shows are shot with it. Using two on a commercial tomorrow

Thank you! You are the voice of wisdom, my friend! 8K 60p really is the end game of digital video evolution and I wish we went straight from SD to 8K instead of passing through all these intermediate formats: 720p, 1080i, 1080p, 2K, 3K, 4K, 5K, and now 2.7K...are you kidding me?!?

Pat, don't be silly. Haven't you heard about those 16K 120p capable cameras coming out at NAB 2013? But maybe you like the old, legacy stuff, thus your adherence to 8K60p video?

A makofoto: Have no clue what commercial/spot shooters use these days, since the last time I saw any TV commercial must have been back in the 1990s. And those already looked pretty awful. Re. the Arri Alexa, it is a pretty neat HD/2K camera -- for around US$30,000. But for the crazy prices they are demanding for them, it is relegated to unlimited budget commercial/spot shooters and some mega-budget TV shows (are there any of those left?), and maybe the odd, well-financed indie movie shoots. Arri Alexa Blue is not high-end stuff, not since the cheaper Sony F65 came to town last late year.

But normal people can barely edit 1080p60 on their computers. 2K become uneditable for most folks at home hence the commercial toys should stay with the 1080 at least for now and focus on low light and quality.

Hi makofoto> Haha ... be a wall flower while we are making great images NOW

Making images? What's that? I'm spending the rest of my life editing 50 years of scanned images and converting umpty-ump hundred hours of videotape. That should take me to the brim of the grave, and beyond.

Hi Cy Cheze>Have you already cleared a suitably large section of the wall in the great hall of your manor for the 160" screen?

You mean 160 FEET, don't you? :)

Hi Francis Carver>Pat, don't be silly. Haven't you heard about those 16K 120p capable cameras coming out at NAB 2013? But maybe you like the old, legacy stuff, thus your adherence to 8K60p video?

Ha ha! As soon as I get up in the morning, I'm way behind.

Hi LaFonte>But normal people can barely edit 1080p60 on their computers.

Argh, I didn't think about that. I guess I'm just going to have to watch it raw. ;)

Since Hollywood is archiving films at 4K, I'll be the naysayer here and say that for future TV viewing, 4K will be adequate. Watching 4K material on an 8K/16K set will still look like 4K quality. As for cameras, what medium are we going to view 8K video? Computer monitors? Let's gather the family around the old 22" computer monitor and watch our family vacation videos......no thanks.

The three different fields of view are all with the same optics - it's just digital zoom, and they don't even specify what they are, just "ultra-wide, wide and narrow". They don't say what the thing weighs and, if I'm reading this right, there's no viewfinder whatsoever, so it's all just a guessing game.

Cameras like this are made for strapping onto someone and then have that person jump of a cliff (or eqivalent). Why in the world would you need 400mm for that? Wouldn't you want it as wide as possible instead?

If you just need to weatherproof a camera with a 400mm lens, there are cases for that.

@ makofoto: GoPro camera does not come with any screen, although you can add an ultra small, ultra low-rez little thingy to it for a few bucks. Regarding the wireless, the image on your iPhone will go blank once you start recording your video with the camera. At that point, what's the use? Otherwise, great news!

I know several people who are making money with GoPros and similar cameras. Not their primary source of income, but offering time laps and "behind the scenes" videos of their main shoots has brought them a little extra cash.

No offense but you don't know what you're talking about. The GoPro cameras are the premier POV mountable sports camera and are used by more video professionals than any other such camera. If you don't understand what this item is and it's implications for the industry, maybe you should just sit this one out.

Somehow I agree that I didn't get all that excited about Optics Pro 7.5.5, seems almost like a random thing to cover given the general lack of coverage - firmware particularly seems very hit and miss, some updates getting reported, others not...

huh ?! 800,000 GoPro's sold and counting ... used by Pro's constantly. Don't you watch TV, documentaries ... sports. I've used as many as 14 on a FORD shoot. The current Cadillac AST commercials feature GoPro shots of the suspension in action. Oh ... you must mean serious ART photography ...

Not sure what serious photography is. I use top end Canon gear when I'm being paid. I used my iPhone yesterday to video my 92 year Dad playing his new electronic organ. I value the video of my Father more than another dozen shots of a office block. I will share my video with my family via social media, I'm quite serious about it.Plus you go to any tourist attraction or event and phones are the camera of choice. Most of the threads on this site are about looking at pointless 100% crops to prove something that hardly matters.GoPro's are a serious bit of kit if your intentions are serious.

It really depends on how long you like the video to be. You can play back 15fps video at 60Fps and it would speed up motion by a factor of 4. So 4 mins would = 1 min. My D800 can do timelapse but I would use up its shutter in no time.

I also picked up the Sony, the IQ is better than my first gen GoPro and the Contour. I'm very impressed with the speed of exposure change, and accuracy with WB, but as you say its a shame they didn't squeeze 1080p60 into the features.

I have a feeling it may be to do with the lack of AVCHD and choice to go with the MP4 container. Perhaps there was some limitation here.

I've tested them all. GoPro's are the only ones that are reliable sharp. The Sony Action cam was VERY soft on the left side of frame. If shoot 60 and 120 fps with no sound. The GoPro records the sound ... we usually use an external mic for better quality ... and one can then play with the speed in post. The Sony gives one no choice with sound, but it IS nice to have the slo mo direct out of the camera

I should say, my interest is in strapping these to the side of a high power rocket. Liftoff occurs fast (0-200 mph in less than 1 second) and parachute deploy occurs in about a fraction of a second, so higher frame rates are critical.

1) Someone who was actually shooting for stills... at 4K that's 8.2 megapixels at 15 frames per second2) Someone who's shooting video but plans on speeding it up anyway3) Someone who plans on using something like twixtor to interpolate the frames4) Security camera style usage5) Someone who wants to play around with 4K but doesn't want to shell out for a much more expensive camera and set up.Edit: keep in mind you can shoot 2.7K (a bit over 4MP images) at 30fps, or normal 1080p HD (over 2MP) even faster.

Don't knock 15fps. I have hours and hours of original 8mm film footage shot at the Standard 8mm film's standard 16fps. Telecined and then frame rate converted to 24fps. Now they play fine and smooth, very "cinematic. " If you can go from 16fps to 24fps, you can also go from 15fps to 24fps or better yet, 30fps. Simplest interpolation ever.

GoPro just barely delivered an iOS-only WiFi app that delivers only one of the promised capabilities for the Hero2. Beware of the typical months of lag between what GoPro promises and what they actually deliver. You'd better not need what's announced in the press release because GoPro has a long history of delivering products that aren't fully functional, then promising that updates are "coming soon". With serious companies like Sony coming into the market, I've purchased my last GoPro camera. I can't imagine that GoPro will change its stripes. It was more important to them to develop a new line of cameras than to deliver functional software for the one it's already selling.

Talked with them just yesterday, they are saying November for the Google Android app. Could be later, of course. Meanwhile, you can do wireless control via the remote included with the 4K Hero3.

I was at NAB in April, and at the Blackmagic Design stand, they had a working unit of their BCC cinema camera. They told us that it will be shipping on JUNE 15th this year. Well, June 15th came and gone bye-bye, and now the latest shopping date for the BCC is sometime early next year. So, let's not pick on GoPro, they are all doing this racket.

I know someone prepping right now for a feature film shoot next winter using nothing but the 2.7K/4K capable GoPro Hero3 cameras. It's not even a student film project, they have an $800,000 budget already, I understand. It's a new world, folks. Forget about your grandfather's Canon EOS 5D for video.

What unpronouceable said. Also, 15 FPS is not bad for a device the size of a deck of cards to record moving pictures at a resolution so fine that you'd need to take out a commercial loan to get a screen big enough to use all of it.

@ tkbslc, I take it you had never shot anything with any GoPro camera, right? Howe about using any Cineform or GoPro Cineform editing/converting/mastering program?

Standard film frame rate was 15fps for 8mm film and 18fps for Super 8 film. But I guess the video guys need a minimum of 120fps to shoot with, I don't know. Anyhow, simplest thing in the world to interpolate is 15fps into 30fps.

What's the problem -- I am not getting it. BTW, camera is called "4K" because it shoots 4K rez video. Its video capture resolution (4K, 2.7K, 1.92K, etc) has got nothing to do with the recording frame rates. Simple, really.